


Revelations brought by Little Green Men

by Doodlegirl1998



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alien Encounters, Angry Tony Stark, BAMF Tony Stark, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Bruce Banner Is a Good Bro, Clint Barton Is An Ass, Clint Barton Is a Good Bro, Gen, Hurt Bruce Banner, Hurt Wanda Maximoff, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Telepathic Wanda Maximoff, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Wanda Maximoff Is A Bitch, Wanda Maximoff is Better As A Villain, magical gifts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-20
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2018-09-01 02:38:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8603926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doodlegirl1998/pseuds/Doodlegirl1998
Summary: Continuing on from Poetically_Ordinary's The Truth As Told By Little Green MenThe Visit from the Aliens ends in a rather unexpected way





	1. Mystery Gift

**Author's Note:**

  * For [poetically_ordinary](https://archiveofourown.org/users/poetically_ordinary/gifts).
  * Inspired by [The Truth As Told By Little Green Men](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8477938) by [poetically_ordinary](https://archiveofourown.org/users/poetically_ordinary/pseuds/poetically_ordinary). 



"Hero of the Earth...Iron Man."

All the little green alien's overly large eye's widened in awe as their faces all lit up in unison.

Stunned, Tony stilled in his knelled position and looks around him at the Agent's, sure that the shock is showing on his face.

"Well I didn't see that coming."

Several of the Aliens chattered among themselves as they gathered forward and reached out to hug or to at least touch some part of him, their iridescent almost sparkling green bodies touching the arms and the chest parts of the armor whilst drinking in the sight of him with the kind of hero worship that he often saw in Peters face when they worked together on his Spidey suit.

Privately, it does still make him feel a bit uncomfortable, purely because sometimes he wonders how he could be considered a hero, considering all the mistakes he's made. 

Ultron,most notably, which is thrown in his face quite a lot.

The Aliens stilled in their excited grabbing and jabbing however when Clint's vindictive voice shattered the happy atmosphere as it boomed through Steve's comm.

"I don't think any of us did. What kind of crappy judgement do these things have anyway? Stark as hero of the Earth, seriously?"

The Aliens hissed at the comm, their previously friendly expressions vanished as they snarled the comm and their black eyes narrowed, Tony wasn't sure that the message had entirely carried over but he really didn't like the threatening way their small, sharp fangs were being revealed .

"Woah," Tony held up a hand to try and calm the Aliens down, they stilled as they turned to him, "Guys, calm down, he hasn't said anything as bad as usual," The hissing resumed becoming gradually louder,Tony raised his voice over them to make sure he was heard over them."I flew a nuke into a wormhole Barton, that's a small reason why maybe they-"

"Doesn't change the fact that you killed my parents, killed my brother!" Wanda cut him off growling into the comm, Tony visibly wilted, "You keep bringing up that one thing like its meant to make up for the fact that you are an egotistical, mass murderer. When are you going to get it into your head that it never will?"

At Tony's visibly guilty and downhearted expression, which he tried and failed to cover up, the three aliens sat on his raised knee chirped at him trying to make comforting noises as they twisted their heads at him and hugged his leg.

"Slander!" The others Extraterestrials rose to Tony's defense at once, The Alien speaking in broken English stepped forth once more pointing an accusing finger at Steve's comm, "Lies.." The Alien twisted his piercing gaze at Steve who was still recovering from shock at how this was playing out, "Monster," Steve winced at being addressed at such and Tony almost felt sorry for him. _Almost_. "bring team...need to see what we do."

* * *

 

It took exactly five minutes for all of the Avengers present, including a freshly dehulkified Bruce, to come into the White House where he, Steve and the Aliens were.

"What's going on here?" Confused Bruce murmured as he glanced around the pile of aliens swarmed around Tony, "All I'm getting from the Hulk is that you needed us to see something."

Looking for answers, he directed his gaze to Steve who shrugged and gave Tony a weird look. "All they've said is what I told you."

"Why aren't you reveling in this Stark? You're being uncharacteristically quiet about all this for you." Natasha commented, narrowing her eyes at him, he had to restrain the urge to squirm under her harsh analytical Black Widow stare.

"Because you know so much about me and my ego, don't you Romanoff?" Tony snarked back in reply.

"See hero...Hero get gift." The Agents lifted thier guns at the English speaking Alien whose hands glowed bright white as it approached Tony.

"Lower your guns." Ordered Tony not removing his eyes from the alien steadily approaching.

"Tony what?" Steve quizzed Tony trying and failing to catch his eye.

"Rogers I know they wont hurt me so tell the Agent's to call it off. Trust me on this." 

"Do not engage, I repeat do not engage. Target not a hostile." Nodding, Steve ordered the Agents who lowered their guns, glancing at each other warily. He kept his eyes glued to the Alien as it approached Tony, despite what happened between him and Tony he really didn't want him to get hurt. One hand curled its way around the gun in his belt, just in case.

"Gift of sight will be given...See hero how he really is...see truth"

The other aliens moved away from Tony as he noticed four more aliens hands begin to glow moving to the Avenger closest to them, freezing everyone in the room  in place, only their eyes darted to Tony who the alien moved very close to.

"Others this wake up call...Thank you gift for Hero... for destroying Chituri... for saving Earth...the hero who reinvented himself...betrayed too many times...too trusting...this help prevent so we give extra for you."

Placing each hand at either side of Tony's head, he felt the energy buzzing around his skull, exploding at the back of his eyes before the world went dark.  


	2. Bringing the rest of the team in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhodey and Spidey get called in :-)

Trying out his new leg exoskeleton, Rhodes tried to walk with the help of the two bars in his personal gym /physiotherapy room Tony had designed especially for him. 

It was roughly ten to midnight when he heard the Avengers alarm go off.

_I wish I was cleared for duty. I could've protected Tones from those assclowns._

He took another painful step.

At the moment the only ones in the facility were himself, Tony, Vision, Romanoff, Barton, Rogers, Maximoff and Bruce. Tony didn't have much support with them . Vision worked hard avoid Team Cap since their new president pardoned them, namely because the Witch was among them.

Their new Presidents controversial decision had been used as an excuse for him to keep his distance from Wanda by keeping busy at the UN building.

 Despite privately calling the president some rather colorful names, Tony had initially been the one to deal with the UN about America's decision; he worked hard at trying to be diplomatic about it but to say Germany, Romania and Sokovia were particularly pissed off at 'Team Cap' was an understatement.

Once Tony knew how upset Vis was, he insisted that the Android needed to take over this job. Advising Vision to take his frustration out on some particularly antsy politicians as he ushered him out the door and reassured him that he would be guiding him as long as he needed. From their regular Skype calls Rhodes knew that Vision had been cut deeply by Wanda's actions and he still hadn't fully healed from them, so he chose to remain in the UN building for the time being. 

Wanda still thought it was Tony poisoning him against her.

 _No, the fact that you used your powers to throw him to the bottom of the Avengers compound had nothing to do with it at all._ Rhodes thought sarcastically as he focused on moving the next leg forward.

_I can't believe they still surprise me with their stupidity._

Whilst Romanoff, Barton, Maximoff and Rogers also nursed hatred for Tony for various other reason's, grudges from Ultron, the Civil War, you name it.

_My God,  I can't believe I felt happy when Tones first told me that he was part of the Avengers._

_If I remember rightly I thought it was because this was a chance for Tony to make more real friends besides me, Happy and Pepper._

_Before Ultron they seemed nice enough...but now...definitely not._

_Maybe Bruce would defend Tones? Nope,_ he sighed as he rested his body against the couch. Bruce was too scared to antagonize his alter ego. _At least the Hulk wouldn't hesitate to defend Tony._

_But would he?_

_From what he saw of the teams interactions now he gathered that Tony's friendship with Bruce really took a hit with Ultron._

The previous warm deep friendship he had seen before Ultron had almost completely disappeared.

_Now their friendship was too strained, too polite with icy undertones to it that neither Tony or Bruce wanted to acknowledge. Denial was a great lady to court._

Frowning, he lent heavily against the bar as he paused.

_Bruce had abandoned him after the mess with Ultron even though Tony had just lost an old friend in Jarvis and he made no move to get in contact afterward._

     Normally, he would have stopped physio by now but this time of night was really the only time he could do his physical therapy without Tony trying to avoid his eyes or mothering him to death. 

He snapped our of his abnormal introspective moment to the sound of the quintet taking off from the roof. 

"FRIDAY what's the mission?" 

"Some Aliens arrived at the White house, Mr Rhodes. They are demanding to speak with the Hero of the Earth." 

He couldn't help the cruel snort that he let out then.

_Ha! I bet Rogers thinks it's him._

_"_ My sentiments exactly, Mr Rhodes and yes he does _."_

He smiled up at the ceiling when he realized he had voiced his previous thought out loud and allowed himself to laugh with her.

_Well at least Friday has Tony's back._

The amusement they shared was short lived, roughly ten minutes later he was alerted to strange readings in Tony's suit and the whole team losing consciousness.

* * *

Meanwhile, Spiderman swung across Queen's skyline before using his web to flip up on the roof top of a skyscraper when he heard his Avenger alert went off.

 **War Machine: Tony and Rogers crew have been hospitalised they are at this address**. **I'll debrief you on the situation as soon as you get here.**

**I know Tony would want you there Spider boy, you and he seem quite close.**

Mentally taking note of the coordinates on screen, he found that Friday had lit up a map for him on his holographic bites.

Worried, Peter bit his lip before nodding resolutely. 

 _I hope they are alright. I wonder how they were hospitalized... Aunt May will be mad that I'm late home again._ He pictured Tony rolling his eyes at this in his head, causing him to smile briefly under the mask before concern settled like a dark cloud at the forefront of his mind.  _I have to know what happened._  

"I'll be there, Mr Stark you can count on me." 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey I'm prolonging the suspense out a bit longer :-) I'm a meanie.  
> I probably wont update Vital for Understanding until next week at least, college is squashing me at the moment.  
> On another note what do you think the Alien's gifts are to Tony and Team Cap?


	3. Waking up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter.  
> It was mainly down to me planning the story ahead, perfecting this chapter and managing the strains of college life. :-)  
> I hope you enjoy.

Blinking slowly Bruce sat upright in his enclosed hospital bed, he shook his head to try and piece together what had just happened- that was when it hit.

The events of the day came back to him in a series of disorientating flashes; the aliens, Tony hailed hero of the Earth, the gifts they were going to receive, being frozen, watching Tony fall to the floor with eyes that were an inky black before the Alien near Bruce touched him and the world disappeared.

_Tony!_

Alarmed, Bruce jolted and twisted around to swing his body off the bed before he caught a glimpse of his hand on the side and stilled.

"What the-?"

His hand was glittering varying shades of iridescent and forest green, upon closer inspection he could see the red and black sparkles speckled among the green.

Instinctively, Bruce pulled the other hand over to try and brush them off when he noticed that his other hand looked the same, he found that when he yanked his sleeves up they were of the same sate but it was when he looked at his chest he got the biggest shock.

A swirling glittering orb positioned right over his heart; navy and bright arc reactor blue tendrils twisted around black, gold and grey but in the center of it all bright amethyst and aubergine shades of purple and white resided there.

"What the -?" Bruce breathed however when he reached up to touch it his hand went straight through it.

_This is insane. Think what could this be?_

 PUNY BANNER NOT SEE. The Hulk boomed with laughter that rattled around his head. 

_Oh no._

Hoping that his hunch wasn't correct, Bruce tore open the curtains looking out at five sealed off beds that must hold his teammates inside.

Shakily standing to his feet, Bruce swallowed as his eyes darted around the room.

 _OK_ _it's a normal hospital then._

He crept across to his left and pulled open the curtain of the bed nearest to him.

Wanda laid unconscious in the hospital bed with the sheets tucked up to her chin.

Despite the fact that he still hated her because of how she had driven them apart, he couldn't help but feel a bit responsible for her.

SMASH WITCH.

_No she is our teammate after all, personal grievances aside. No smashing teammates._

WITCH HURT TEAM. FIND FRIEND, IGNORE WITCH.

Bruce felt his face twist into a cruel smile at Hulks words, he really didn't know what endeared the others to her because after what she did to him he didn't want to help her either. 

_He might be in a similar state to her._

_If we treat her, we can find out how to help Tony._

The Hulk had no answer to that but he had given Bruce the clear impression that he was now sulking, he had to restrain a snort at the other guys sense of humor. 

Analyzing her appearance, it became apparent she was in a similar state to him had glitter across her body too; but hers was mostly a deep sparkling scarlet with hints of vermilion and obnoxiously bright pink, becoming barely noticeable as it reached her face, despite the fact that more noticeable hints of color lined her eyes. Additionally, her orb was twisted with a dull bronze, glimmering Fuchsia and red also, which was almost obscured by Obsidian tendrils, that made the Hulk perk up in fear for some reason.   

DON'T TOUCH. BAD.

Swallowing, Bruce retracted his hand that was about to nudge her shoulder to try and wake her up, instead placing it on the bed.

"Wanda." After calling her name, Bruce waited a few seconds before shaking his head and glancing at her machines which were all reading normal outputs at the moment at least.

He would have to look at her chart to be sure, he was about to move to the foot of her bed when his hand accidentally brushed against hers because he failed to notice her move her hand as she was beginning to stir.

_Oh no._

The last thing he saw was Wanda sitting upright in her bed as her eyes lit up red, she attempted to grasp his hand but he could feel himself sliding to the floor.

Panicked, Wanda with bright vermilion eyes jumped from her bed and began to shout for help, despite the fact that he was now hearing activity from the other beds, he knew it was too late.

The light from the orb in her chest was reaching a blinding intensity. 

He felt his eyes roll, black encased his vision once more. 


	4. Of Arrivals and Warnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter and Rhodey arrive at the hospital and the others react to what's happened with Bruce and Wanda.

Rhodes, still clad in the War Machine Armour, leant back on the cheap sofa in the hospital waiting area closest to the room where he knew his best friend and the other five were quarantined.

None really knew what the Aliens did to the Avengers in the other room so the action was made to place them all together away from the other patients so they could be under observation. However that meant he wasn't allowed to see Tony either.

Logically, he was fine with this action and it made sense but he didn't trust Barton or Maximoff not to strangle Tony in his sleep. At least he would be here for Tony when he got let out.

_I'll get to mother him for a change._

_It would be a nice (revenge) role reversal considering what Tony has been like recently._

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

Twisting his head, Rhodes got the weird but not unusual sight of Spider-Man suckered on the floor length window by the tips of his fingers.

"Hey Mr Rhodes, can you open the window? I wouldn't mind waiting out here normally but I'm freezing and I'm seriously tempted to use my super strength to bash it in." 

"The window is open Spider-Man." Friday answered from his web shooters, amusement tinged her tone as Peter knocked the window once and it swung inwards like a door. 

Crawling across the ceiling like his arachnid cousins, Peter flipped down once he was near the sofa, with a unnatural grace, and sat in it before rubbing the back of his masked head awkwardly.

"Oh yeah. My bad." Rhodes snorted at the awkwardness the young man displayed, it reminded him of a young MIT era Tony. "Hey Mr Rhodes why aren't we allowed to see Mr St-Tony or the others yet? What happened to them?" 

"Call me James, Jim or Rhodey. Man, Mr Rhodes makes me feel old. Here's what happened kid..." With that Rhodey filled Spider-Man in on what he knew, by the end he slouched in the sofa staring at the door he knew his friend lay behind with an anxious expression clouding his face. "When I last checked they all still out of it."  

"Mr Stark is hero of the Earth! Wow!" Awed Peter leant back on the sofa next to Rhodey who smiled widely at the idolisation being shown towards his friend. "I knew I had a good taste in idols. I wonder what gift the Aliens gave them."

Rhodes snorted. "Whatever it is, I hope it removes Rogers head from his ass." 

"What do you-" Perplexed, Peter had turned to Rhodes before he cut himself off as they noticed three Doctors rush into the quarantined area. "That doesn't look like a good sign. Friday, what's happening?"

* * *

 "HELP!"

Alarmed, Wanda leapt from her bed as she screamed. Clasping his hand again did nothing to stop what had been set in motion when she accidentally touched him. She could feel Bruce's mind being pulled towards her and away from himself, at the same time she could feel her consciousness being dragged away from her as an invisible force tried to pull her away. 

So far her powers had delayed her conscious minds exit but she doubted that would hold long. Swirls of red lit up her fingers protectively, trying to guard herself in any way possible from the unseen threat. The pull against her mind felt like hands around her soul and no matter what part of her powers she used she was helpless against it. 

She hadn't been helpless in a very long time and it frightened her to the core.

"HELP!" 

At this second scream, she heard several people run towards her. 

"Wanda, hey you're alright. What happened?" 

The comforting voice of Clint came from behind her but much too close for comfort.

"Don't touch me." She growled in warning, turning and backing away from both Steve and Clint who had been moving towards her.

She saw quickly that the others had the similar glittering appearances to both her and Bruce; gold was sparsely coated across Steve's skin. Upon closer inspection she saw that Steve's main colour was yellow of varying shades that twisted around his orb, speckled and twisted with tendrils of white, grey and red.

Clint on the other hand, his orbs main colour was purple of three distinctive shades twirling around strands of ebony, scarlet, gold and two bright shades of yellow but the sparkles  didn't spread out across his skin but stayed in his orb.

He threw his hands up in a placating gesture as Steves face creased in worry.

Turning around she saw Natasha and Tony reach for Bruce, who was sprawled across the floor with his eyes shut, displaying a peaceful parody of sleep.

She snarled at them in warning. "Don't touch us."

_They have a similar appearance to us they might be affected the same._

Natasha _,_ she saw had a thin layer of gold glitter coating her skin too, but this was interspersed with pockets of bronze that dominated her orb too. The rest of her orb was swirled with shades of blue, black, purple, red, pink, silver and grey. 

However, the sight of Starks orb really surprised her. His main colour was gold, but it was limited to his orb like Clint's and it was twisted in a aesthetically pleasing combination of grey, purple, red, blue and black in a variety of shades. His seemed really inviting to touch, more so than any of the others, the orb made her wish that she knew the real him. 

_Where did that thought come from?_

_He is compliant in my family's death- he is the reason they are dead!_

_No! I don't want to know him!_

 "Since when do you care about Bruce, witchy?" Tony snarked back, concealing true worry for both herself and his friend, but his arm retracted at her warning.

"Whatever you do, don't touch each other. Don't touch us. I felt Doctor Banners mind being pulled away from his body, it's only because of my powers that I have enough of my senses left to warn you..." Her voice became breathy as the pull strengthened to combat her powers and wore her down.

The next harsh yank sent her to her hands and knees as she saw the comforting, scarlet strands disappearing from around her fingers. 

"No,no,no." 

The next pull made her consciousness disappear completely, her arms gave out but her face was greeted by a soft pillow instead of the cold hard floor as her world was replaced by a sea of glimmering greens. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I hope you are having a good Christmas :-)  
>  I managed to find a pocket of inspiration and spare time so tah dah! New Chapter, I hope you like it.


	5. Working it through

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steves view on things and Tony and Natasha talk through what the gift could be.

"Stay back." Steves eyes were stuck on his unconscious friends whilst he flung out one hand to stop the three nurses that had run in in thier tracks. "What these Aliens have done to us, is obviously transmitted or activated by touch."

"Captain, what can we do to help?" The leader and the middle one of the three nurses asked in a gentle voice as her cheeks flushed pink, the first thing he noticed once he looked up is that these three appeared to have no orbs or sparkles over thier skin.

_They were just three ordinary nurses._

_Thank God._

Steve was about to give the instructions but just then Tony made the weirdest facial expression as he glanced at the leader of the three nurses- almost as if he was about to laugh.

_For goodness sake this isn't funny Tony!_

Tony's eyes flickered over to Steve before his smile dropped, into a very forced somber expression, but his lip kept twitching up as if he was finding it hard to keep a straight face or having a muscle spasm. Then he stared at Bruce who was sprawled over the floor in obviously uncomfortable position and his lip stopped twitching. 

_That was wierd._

"Are there any of the other Avengers outside?" Natasha asked the nurses with an analytical expression adorning her features.

"Rhodey and Spiderling are here." Tony answered with such a certainty that it made Steve want to scoff but he held it back out of politeness, Natasha didn't bother.

"Oh come on Stark how on Earth would you know?" Iritated Clint snapped as he narrowed his eyes at Tony who bristled like an angry cat.

"He's right." The nurse on the far right spoke up appearing stunned as she stared at Tony with wide eyes.

_This situation was getting weirder and weirder that was for sure._

"Send Rhodey to get the English Speaking Alien up here and get Spidey to come here. I think that the Aliens would react well to either of them but we can't be sure. Quarantine has got to be over now right? I would love to see a friendly face." Tony smiled charmingly at the nurses and winked.

_I get that you aren't with Pepper now but really do you have to flirt with everyone?_

_Whose fault is it that our faces are not friendly to you?_

_I get that I was wrong about not telling you about your parents but chucking your friends in the Raft?! I have never been more disgusted with you._

"We'll see what we can do Mr Stark. If you need us, you each have an emergency alarm by the beds and this room is being monitored." The lead nurse opened the door as her colleagues went through it, she then disappeared through it herself.

Tony inhaled sharply as his jaw twitched, before he called after the nurses in a tight voice. "Hurry up with getting Spidey here will you?"

 Natasha rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Your ego really doesn't need any more pandering to."

"You know jack shit about my ego Romanoff. Don't pretend you do." Tony retorted in a vitolic tone that set Steves teeth on edge.

_How dare he talk to a lady like that?_

"STARK! Enough." Steve almost shouted in his commanding Captain America voice. "We have two teammates down and no clue why apart from Wanda's warning about her mind being pulled away and the fact that they touched."

"Do you think it's to do with the glittering things floating in front of our chests?" Clint asked Steve, glancing briefly at him before staring down at his own purple orb with a intrigued expression. "But why would it spread out across yours, Wanda's, Bruce's and Tasha's skin but not mine and Starks?" 

"I have an idea." Tony perked up, straightening as he looked to the others. "You know how it's Steve, Natasha, Wanda and Bruce whose sparkles are spread out across the skin. Well, they've all been experimented on haven't they? Steve with the super soldier serum, Wanda with the Sceptre, Bruce with gamma rays and Natasha with the Russians Infinity Serum." 

"How did you know about that?" Natasha asked in a sharp voice which Steve knew if it had been directed at him, he would've winced. 

"I hacked your files." Tony said in a casual remorseless voice, before continuing despite Natasha angered expression. "But anyway think about it, Bruce's skin sparkles are green and who else do we know who is green?"

"The Hulk." Natasha's eyes stared at Bruce with a soft expression.

"And Wanda's power is what colour exactly?"

"Red," Natasha glanced up at Wanda with realisation flitting across her face, "red like the shades of glitter across her skin. Oh!"

"Exactly. These orbs and the glitter have got to be representing parts of us." Tony nodded at her before he looked to the door with a longing expression.

"Man, I wish I knew how and I wonder why we could only see ours and not those nurses colours? Maybe it only works on us because we were all given the gift." Clint shrugged as he looked at the others.

"What? You mean you couldn't?" Becoming very incredulous, Tony raised one eyebrow as he looked at the others who were completely speechless.

_Well that's something._

_Why couldn't anything be simple?_

_I hope Wanda and Bruce wake up soon._


	6. What's going on with Tony?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter is let in to see the team and Tony finally explodes.

Out of the corner of his eye, Rhodey watched Peter nervously tap his foot as he waited for the nurses to come out of the quarantined room. Despite the annoyance the kids soft repetitive tapping caused, restrained himself from snapping at Spiderman because he felt just as anxious.

Although Rhodeys anxiety was saved purely for Tony, Rogers had lost his respect the instant he ignored 116 countries and Team Cap the instant they followed him.

The way they all treated Tony in the aftermath of the Civil War greatly angered him. However, the fact he was still on leave because of his partial paralysis meant he could do little to defend Tony when the missions that required the so called 'team' occurred.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

_It has only been five minutes._

Tap. Tap. Tap. 

_The nurses are sorting whatever caused that alarm surely it can't be too bad, right?_

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Rhodey gritted his teeth and he heard Spider-Man inhale sharply as he looked up to see the Doctors walk towards him.

Rhodey got to his feet shakily and he felt Spider-Man grip his arm- he wasn't sure whether he was doing it to support him or as a comfort to his own anxiety but nonetheless he was grateful.

"Mr Rhodes, Spider-Man I'm happy to inform you that the majority of your team have awoken without incident. However, both Wanda Maximoff and Bruce Banner fell unconscious once they touched each other. So far we are confedient that the effects aren't detrimental to either of thier healths but we can't be sure. Therefore Mr Stark has asked you, Mr Rhodes, to bring the English Speaking Alien up here to explain what occurred. Spider-Man," the nurse turned to Peter and smiled, "feel free to go on through those doors but be careful not to touch anyone. We don't know what the effects on you will be."

Rhodey knew Tony had chosen him purely because he was unsure how the Aliens would react to Spider- Man even though they would _probably_ like him.

"Good luck." Rhodey smiled comfortingly at Spiderman and let himself be lead away by two of the nurses while the third walked to an area out of sight, where she could monitor the cameras. 

"Ok, see you in a minute Rhodey." The kid waved awkwardly at him. 

Rhodey just had time to see Spiderman mentally brace himself before straightening and taking a deep breath in as he entered the room.

* * *

Ever since he had woken up, Tony had acquired these gifts in not only seeing the orbs like his teammates but he seemed to be desciphering the orbs and hearing their thoughts.

The thoughts he heard involving him made him increasingly angry and he couldn't help but feel a little bit hurt.

_I can't believe I thought most of them were my friends at one point._

Honestly, Tony could conclude from roughly five minutes of being awake that most of them had a higher opinion of the shit on thier shoes.

_Natasha I know didn't and doesn't like me._

_Fine._

_However some of the thoughts Clint and Steve are thinking are doing a good job at making me want to punch them in the face._

**_Christ what's up with Stark? I wonder why he's the only one who could see those nurses orbs?_  ** **_Actually I don't care. He's pissy normally... and I bet he doesn't even like the Spider kid. He just likes his ego being stroked, god knows why the kid likes him._ **

_I swear to fucking God Clint-_

Fuming, Tony just held back a growl and he forced himself to keep his breathing under control.

To say that Tony was glad when Peter walked in was an understatement.

"Hey guys." Tony visibly perked up at Peters presence and smiled brightly at him.

He knew Peters orb would be beautiful and he was not disappointed; it was mostly a bright glistening gold like his - **he has a good heart.**

Tony wondered why he knew that Peters type of bright gold meant that but he figured that he could always ask the Alien when he got here.

 There were a few strands of grey running through it - **he is haunted by the past,** (Tony tried to hold back a frown at that, he didn't like thinking of his young friend as being haunted.)

Tendrils of Light yellow also swirled around his orb - **he is loyal to those he loves and likes.**

He could also see strands of crimson, purple, baby pink and Arc reactor blue twisting around in there. **Those meant that the kid was brave, had a good sense of humor, is loving and he has a passion for learning.**

_Damn kid, I'm so glad you're my friend._

Speckles of silver, lighter than what he saw on Natasha, and white littered what little of Peters skin he could see it was a similar colour to the webbing that he could make. - **He is versatile, he is strong but he can be naive.**

He knew he had zoned out for too long when he felt Peters worry and bemusement emanating off him in waves.

"Mr Stark are you alright? You kinda zoned out on me there."

_**Why is Tony staring at me like that? I don't have anything on my Spidey suit...** _

_**Is he alright, none of the others have zoned out like this?** _

_**I don't think he heard a word I've** _ _**just said.** _

"Sorry Underoos were you talking?" Tony shook himself, he heard Steve sqwark at his rudeness along with thinking an outraged **_'Tony!'_**

Giving a small smile, Peter moved and sat crossed legged by Wanda and Bruce's bodies on the floor. "Do you want me to repeat myself, old man?"

**_Oh I was afraid of this he is becoming way too much like Stark. It's a shame._**

_That's fucking it!_ He just knew Steve meant that in a derogatory way. _I could deal with them thinking nasty shit about me but Underoos - no way Rogers!_

 _"_ So what if he is becoming like me, Rogers? Besides that joke was all him, if you took the time to know him rather than pouncing around the compound like some puffed up Golden retriever you'd know that. But instead you are still under the illusion that you run the place because our dick president doesn't believe in accountability. News Flash, you don't! I do! So shove your belittling snide comments and your opinion of me up your arse with that stick that you like to sit on!" By the time Tony had finished he could feel that he was bright red and breathing like he had run a marathon, he had also got to his feet at some point as well but he couldn't say when.

All of them stared at him, gobsmacked.

"Stark," Natasha leant forward, he could feel her assessing him but her thoughts were the least annoying out of the Team Cap crew so he let her continue."Are you hearing our thoughts?" 


	7. Revelations about a Red Witch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A member of the team shows thier true colours...

Tony gulped and looked away from Natasha's accusing eyes.

"Yes." He waited and sure enough everyone became tense.

Thier thoughts became guarded and thier walls shot up as feelings of renewed anger, hostility and violation filled the air like a bad smell.

 _Really!? They aren't this guarded around Wanda and we know what that little witch can do_.

"This just puts the icing on the cake." Hissed Clint as his eyes narrowed nastily at Tony, "what are you going to tell us next that you can read the orbs too?"

"Well, yes." He couldn't help the mocking sneer that made its way on to his face. "Do you want me to tell you what yours is, Barton?"

"No I fucking well don't! This is bull crap. I bet you'll just use it as an-" Clint's resentful rage filled rant cut off when he noticed Wanda and Bruce begin to stir. "Wanda?"

Tony blinked at the feelings of love and protectiveness rose in the Archer and the sudden softness that had crept into Clint's voice at her name.

_What about Bruce, asshole?_

Despite her dislike of him, it was clear even without hearing her thoughts that Natasha thought the same as him.

"Ok, guys I'll be right back." Peter got to his feet and obviously Tony hadn't hidden his sadness at this well enough because the kid felt the need to elaborate. "It'll be 15 minutes tops, once I run to the Nurses, tell them about this. And check the Alien and Mr Rhodes where abouts-" 

"It's fine, Spiderman." Steve cut the kid off mid rant and dismissed him with a patronising nod.

"Right, I'll just...go then." Casting one last worried glance at Tony, he turned and left the room.

**_Stark you can live without your ego being massaged for a few minutes. Get a grip._ **

Steve's sharp cold thought echoed around his brain, he would've flinched had he not been almost immediately distracted by Bruce becoming more lucid.

"Brucie, how was your stint in unconsciousness?" Tony leant over Bruce whose eyes flickered before opening completely and attempting to sit up.

Bruce's eyes lightened upon seeing Tony and he reached out to hug him before Tony shuffled backwards, "Sorry Big Green that might not be a good idea right now." 

Nodding, Bruces eyes flickered to Natasha crouched by him, she smiled softly at him, "It's good to have you back Bruce." 

"Thanks," he returned her smile before his eyes flicked over to Wanda, becoming a violently bright green.

Concerned, they all watched as he stood up and briskly marched from the room.

Tony restrained a disgusted grimace at the way Steve and Clint hovered over Wanda, who appeared to be on the verge of crying. Meanwhile both he and Natasha made to get up and follow Bruce, "Stay here Romanoff, I'll get him back."

She complied and joined Steve and Clint in checking up on Wanda but not before thinking a few very choice things about him. 

"Real classy widow, kiss your boyfriend with that mouth?" He knew he had overstepped the mark a little there, she had been trying to rekindle things with Bruce and to his knowledge it hadn't been going too well. Despite the fact that they had regained a tentative friendship after the so called 'Civil War.'

So if he had been in a hurry sliding through the door after Bruce, no one could blame him really, who wants to deal with a pissed off Black Widow?

He stilled in his skid when he came face to face with the Hulk. 

"Blimey Big Guy," Tony smiled at the Hulk in what he hoped was a placating manner, despite this the Hulk's furious expression didn't lessen and set him on edge. "What's wrong?"

_What did he see when he touched Wanda to make him this mad?_

"Witch bad. Witch hurt Tin Man to make bad metal man. Witch continue to hurt Tin Man. Hulk smash Witch!" The last part was punctuated by a big green fist slamming into the concrete floor.

One thing was for sure, Tony really did not envy Wanda right now. 

The black and red sparkles stood out vibrantly against the Hulks green- now sparkling- skin and Tony could feel the waves of rage and protectiveness radiating off of him almost as if it was heat.

 "Easy," Tony moved closer and held up a hand to stop the Hulk from pummelling the floor again. "Can you try to explain to me what you saw? How does she continue to hurt me?" 

At this the Hulk looked unbearablely sad and his expression crumpled. "Witch twist others. Witch make Tin Man head hurt worse. Witch make Tin Man alone and unhappy." 

"O-oh." Tony heavily swallowed, his legs suddenly became jelly beneath him and his back slammed against the wall as he slid down to sit on the floor.

"Hulk sorry. Puny Banner sorry too, want to come back. Hulk hit Witch for Tin Man if Tin Man want." The Hulk offered with a small smile on his face as he crept forward and sat down on the floor in front of Tony. 

"T-Thanks buddy," Tony just managed to choke out as the air constricted around him at the memory of Wanda's powers twisting and violating the deepest recesses of his mind. He glanced at his violently shaking pale hands. Horrified, he felt the familiar feeling of a panic attack shove itself to the forefront of his mind. "Need Banner."

* * *

 

"Where have they gone?!" Wanda shrieked as she tried again to call on her powers without avail.

She barley had time to reflect on her experience inside the green monsters head before she felt like something inside her had vanished. It was when she had tried to call on her powers to see why Dr Banner was so angry at her only to find that she could no longer summon the comforting red light.

"NO!" Pounding her fist against the bed, she saw that the vibrant red and pink sparkles had faded against her skin had turned muted and dull, she felt tears drip down her face.

"Don't worry Wanda." She looked up to see Steve perched next to her, "Spider-Man has gone to get the Aliens to come up here. They'll fix this so you can have your powers back." 

She looked across at Clint who smiled comfortingly at her, "This has all got to be a mistranslation of some kind. Stark hero of the Earth..." he shook his head. "If it's anyone it's gotta be Cap. And Wanda... the Alien will hopefully see sense when it gets here and return your powers to you. I can think of no one more deserving of them." 

Unnerved by the stark contrast of Clint and Steve's steadfast support in comparison to Natasha's cold critical glare, she ignored her in favour of them as she squeezed a few more tears from her eyes. 

"I'm going to see what's taking Bruce and Stark so long." Natasha rolled her eyes and stalked from the room at the display.

"But they're gone- they made me feel safe and they are gone." Wanda made her voice wobble as she averted her eyes downwards to let gravity tug down some rather stubborn tears clumping her lashes. "I-I only had them since Pietro and now I am alone..." 

Carefully avoiding skin on skin contact, both Clint and Steve hugged her and whispered assurances that she had them, that she would always have them.

Wanda rested into thier hold and truly smiled.

_This moment would be perfect if I could use my powers._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I'm so late with updating this it took me ages to get this to a standard I was happy with... I hope you enjoy :-)


	8. Revelations and Clarifications

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Revelations and Clarifications about what happened to Bruce and the Scarlet Witch when they touched...  
> Rhodey's Orb is revealed :)  
> Tony has a few suspicions about Peter and he learns more about him and Rhodey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Belated New Year lovely readers! :)  
> Last Month I had some time on my hands and because I have neglected this fic way too much. So I decided to pick this up again :D  
> Thank you for all your lovely comments and no I haven't given up on this despite the fact that that I have been on Hiatus for almost a year... Yikes!  
> I can only apologise for that. I never intended it to be so long however a combination of Stress, Writers block and real life can be a toxic one. I hope you enjoy this and take this as my apology to you all :)  
> Updates will probably be irregular with this but I will never be as bad again.

When the Hulk had abruptly retreated from the forefront of his mind, Bruce really hadn't been sure what to expect. However, upon seeing a pale, shaking and distant looking Tony Stark in front of him, he fully understood the Hulks panic.

**_What was this? An Anxiety Attack... oh my god Tony._ **

He sprung into action and rubbed Tony's clothed shoulder, carefully not touching his skin as Tony seemed to react to the combination of the thought and the touch.

"Bruce? H-how can you be talking to me?... I killed you... I killed all of you." 

It took all his willpower to not hug Tony right there, he had seen what that witch had planted in everyone's heads but what she had put in Tony's was, one of, if not the worst. Although the witch didn't care about how much she had hurt the others with her mind violations, the intentions were different when she went in; whilst she aimed to disable and distract the others in Johannesburg, with Tony she wanted to rip him apart from the inside.

From what he saw the Witch had been close to succeeding.

"Tony," Bruce blinked back his own tears at this remark , "You would never kill me. It isn't real. That little bitch was messing with your head. Now I need you to breathe for me. Ok, in for three and out for three."

Tony tried to replicate the instructions that Bruce was giving him however the remembered violating feeling of her powers warping and twisting around his hippocampus made his eyes remain dark.

Alarmed, Natasha stills upon seeing Bruce and Tony on the floor.

She debates hiding to attempt to hear more of what was going on without their knowledge of her being there, but she decided to forgo that option as Stark’s new gifts had almost certainly made him aware of her presence already.

"Bruce, what happened? Why is Stark like this?" 

Despite not being overly fond of the cocky billionaire, it unnerved her to feel how much of her previous animosity was wearing off- animosity that had increased ten fold after Ultron and Wanda's introduction to the team.

**_Stark I got you all wrong. I'm so sorry... I never knew this team was family to you too._ **

Breathing a shuddering breath outwards, Tony gave her a shaky smile despite the fact that his eyes were still far too dark for her liking.

"I never knew you cared Romanoff." His eyes darted across her orb and the glitter that coated her skin, he was comforted by the fact that they seemed to lighten a little.

"Neither did I... contrary to popular belief I don't actually hate you."

Bruce glances at her cautiously, Natasha was hard to read at the best of times and her orb too seemed as complex as her personality, multicolored and multi faceted. Even Tony had to take a minute to see for once that she was being truthful with him for once.  

_ Huh. How about that? _

Tony barely had time to process that information or the genuinity of it before a panicked young voice cut through his thoughts.

"Mr Stark- Tony?! Are you alright?" Peter rushes over as he gets closer his overwhelming feelings of warmth, protectiveness, love and concern envelope Tony like a warmth hug as his multi-coloured aura of  **good, haunted, loyal, brave, funny, passionate** attempts to guide him fully out of the apocalyptic nightmare that he was half inside at that moment.

He feels Peter’s feelings join with the ghost feelings from the others to form a guiding light which eventually dragged him out of the blossoming panic attack.

Both Natasha and Bruce chime in with breathing techniques and other traditional methods that it was clear they only studied.

Surprisingly, Peter’s thoughts helped ground him the most and kept him focused on where he was and what he could see, touch and hear in the present.

_ The type of knowledge Peter held clearly only could come from someone who experienced this themselves. Especially with the temptation for people to hurt themselves out of  their dark place and not to do that. After this is over I need to talk to him about that.  _

“Fuck… that was a trip and a half.” Tony tilts his head back and squeezes his eyes shut for a moment. When he opens them he sees the concerned gazes of all three people sat by him, although Natasha hid hers well. 

“Guys, what happened?” Peter asks in a concerned voice, “Rhodey is just about to come up, we had just succeeded in rounding all the aliens up, calming them and fishing out the English speaking one when I ran up ahead to tell you guys in advance… Can you quickly tell me what happened to you so I can let Mr Rogers know too?” 

“When I touched Maximoff, I saw all the things that she did to us. I saw how the good in her became twisted and tainted by the trauma she went through to the point where she became something else. She grew up bitter loving only her twin, and when he died-”

“- She blamed me for it because of Ultron . , ” Tony replies in a tired voice before sweeping a hand down his face.

“Basically yes, she has been consciously turning everyone against Tony, ever since she got on this team . , ” Bruce’s eyes flash briefly a vibrant angry green , before he turns to Peter and Natasha . “She has never cared for anyone else, except perhaps Vision who piqued her interest for a while before ‘Stark poisoned him and made him betray her.’ It all comes back to you, Tony.” Bruce's voice cracks a little when he turns back to him. “She's been wearing you down and isolating you for years. I'm so sorry.” 

“It makes so much sense now that I think about it.” Natasha frowns, and an awkward expression comes over her face. “I mean I disliked you before Wanda came on the team, Stark. But I still respected you and sometimes I found you amusing, yet annoying. Afterward though,  my belief in my initial assessment was reaffirmed and I was irritated more by everything I had previously found amusing in you...It happened so gradually I didn’t even notice.”

Natasha cuts herself off when she hears Rhodey and the alien approach, the group turns to him. Natasha and Peter straighten from where they had been leaning down to Tony.

Peter is surprisingly the most rigid, clearly he did not take the revelation about Wanda well, Tony wishes he would voice some of his thoughts out loud despite the fact that Peter’s fierce expression does enough of the talking for him. 

_ ‘Damn kid, you can be scary when you want to be.’ _

Whilst observing this Tony slams his mask down to try and hide the fact that he was recovering from a anxiety attack although he knows he can’t hide all the small tells from Rhodey.

He almost overwhelmed by the thoughts he can hear coming off Rhodey as well as the complexity of his orb. 

The triad main swirls of light inside the orb were; yellow indicating  **loyalty** , the Crimson of  **courage** and the brilliant blue was **intellect** . 

Upon closer inspection, Tony noticed there were veins of others poking through as well. Black which highlighted that he has a **dark side** to him, Tony was intrigued about that because he knew he had never seen it, although he was sure that he would never want to. There was three more colours too the biggest yet lightest vein was the grey which indicated that he, like Tony and Peter, was **haunted** by the past. However the fact that it was faded indicated that it was either a developing problem or one that had disappeared. Tony was betting on the former after all the trauma they went through during the so called Civil War. 

There is a thin shot of dark red stabbing through the yellow of loyalty that indicated that Rhodey was still feeling slightly  **guilty** about not finding Tony quicker whilst he was kidnapped in Afghanistan. 

Tony had to restrain a sigh, it was clear that Rhodey was always going to carry that with him, no matter how undeserving it was. 

The shots of gold being woven into the yellow highlighted his  **strong sense of morality and good heart.**

It is just after being bombarded with all of that he allows the thoughts to filter their way through.

_ ‘ _ **Tones, are you alright? Oh god I can’t ask that outloud, he’ll kill me. I know he’s just had a panic attack or something to that effect, I mean all the signs are there… he’s spacing out a little now too. That probably means it was a bad one. Fuck. Were the others there when it happened? I want to hug him now but I can’t because of that weird alien voodoo.’**

Concerned, Rhodey moves forward instinctively to help him up before Tony holds out a hand to stop him.

“Always, yeah man . , ” Tony replies as he pushes himself up the wall, Bruce mirrors his action in getting up to his feet as his eyes watch Tony closely.  Tony knows that it’s obvious that it takes a great deal of effort to regain the strength in his voice again so he doesn't blame him despite the fact that he hates the concern. Panic attacks did always take it out of him . ,  “I’m fine, Peter said you’d be back. What’s the deal with E.T here?”

Rhodey gets the reference and only just conceals a laugh as he answers, “I told him about the situation both Spider- Man and I heard from the nurses; that Wanda and Bruce touched each other and it caused them both to collapse-”

“Oh it did more than that,” a twitch of a vindictive smile tugs at Natasha’s mouth . , “When I left them Wanda was still whining about the loss of her powers after the mind meld between her and Bruce. Pathetic.”

“I didn’t lose the Hulk…why is that?” Bruce aims a perplexed look towards the alien. Tony was glad that Bruce was voicing the question playing on all their minds; he was glad that Morgana had lost her undeserved gifts but big green was only alright for now. 

_ ‘Oh God what if this has lasting effects on Bruce? What if the Hulk gradually dies now like Witchy’s powers? Fuck no!’ _

“You nothing to fear . , ”  T he alien points to Bruce, “Your friendly monster stay. He is a gift. Witch powers are a curse and a danger.” The alien gives a proud smile as he points back to himself, “We remove danger, but we not finish team need to see hero as he truly is and expose witch to the fools.”

The alien nods to Tony who smiles in response and begins to move, albeit a little shakily initially, down the hallway again . , “I’ll lead you to the fools.”

He feels the alien walk with him next to Rhodey, in front of the quietly excited and tense forms of Peter, Bruce and Natasha. 

Raising an eyebrow to Rhodey, Tony gives one last slightly nervous yet excited smile to him as he reaches the door.

After a short breather Tony gathers up his courage, shoves back any traitorous nerves and pushes it open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also thank you very Much to Innerglow11 who beta'd this for me :D


End file.
